Southern Downs: Mother leads fluoride fight

PUBLIC debate about fluoride in our water is heating up and Stanthorpe mother-of-four Rosalyn Malcolm is leading the charge.

While all four of her children suffer from chemical sensitivities or intolerances, her eldest, 9-year-old Ben, has it the worst.

Mrs Malcolm said it was a battle because even just bathing Ben could turn him psychotic.

“We have a filter on the shower that takes the chlorine out of the water that we also funnel into the bath for the kids, but then I realised fluoride was still getting through,” she said.

“Ben complains that he is itchy and gets out of the bath crying.”

Mrs Malcolm said she also had to filter the kids’ drinking water.

She said the family had a normal tap filter on the kitchen sink but when fluoride was introduced to Stanthorpe in 2011 they had to upgrade.

“We had to buy a $600 filter that takes the fluoride out of the water and we spend about $250 a year getting it serviced,” she said.

While nine other councils have opted to turn off their fluoride taps after the State Government put the decision in the hands of local government earlier this year, the Southern Downs is not considering following suit.

It would take “genuine and substantial community requests” before de-fluoridation is considered, according to a council spokeswoman.

Mrs Malcolm said she hoped to ultimately get fluoride out of our water supply.